Thursday, September 29, 2016

Clayton Library Open House, Sat. Oct. 8, 2016



Please encourage your neighbors, friends and family to attend the Clayton Library Open House on Saturday, October 8, 2016.

I will be there offering information about genealogical research on behalf of the Lonestar Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.  Please stop in and say hello.

What are the stories of my ancestors?
Get answers at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research
OPEN HOUSE, Saturday, October 8, 2016, 11pm - 3pm

  • Getting Started classes
  • Genealogical societies
  • Kid's scavenger hunt
  • Costumed historical reenactors
  • Refreshments


5300 Caroline
Houston, TX 77004
832-393-2600

Monday, September 26, 2016

Drilling Deeper in the Lonestar State- Frank E. Little

I gave a presentation last Saturday in Richmond, Texas called "Drilling Deeper in the Lonestar State."

The following case study of Frank E. Little is one the cases that I included in the "Drilling Deeper..." presentation.  I have excluded most of the images from the case study report, but will provide you with a copy of the full research report if requested.  Please contact me using the contact box in the right hand column of this blog.



Ms. Judy Little Martin and Ms. Kathleen Baxter are interested in pursuing information about their shared Little Family history relating to the death of Frank E. Little. The following information is extracted from the first phase research report provided to Ms. Martin and Ms. Baxter.  If you can provide more information on this case study, please contact me through the contact box on the right side of this blog post.

The client objectives were:


1.      Find more information on the Frank E. Little who died in Rock Island, Colorado County, Texas on 6 September 1908. 
a.      What happened in Rock Island?
b.      Which ranch did he conduct and what does that mean?
c.       Essentially how did he die?
2.      Evaluate each record to determine whether it is a match for Frank E. Little born 28 May 1855 in Crete, Will County, Illinois.
3.      Prepare a narrative on the death of Frank E. Little.

 

KNOWN FACTS


Frank E. Little was born 28 May 1855 in Crete, Will County, Illinois and is believed to have died in Rock Island, Colorado County, Texas on 6 September 1908.  Ms. Baxter has provided a detailed timeline for Frank E. Little which shows him residing in Minnesota until 1875.  He was in California in 1879 and Oregon in 1900.

The following newspaper article led the search from Oregon to Texas: "Frank Little has sold his place in Shoestring and him and his family leave this week for Rock Island, Texas where he will conduct a ranch there." From the Roseburg Review, May 2 1908.

This led the search to the following record at FindaGrave.com:
 Frank Little
Birth:       May 2, 1856, USA
Death:     Sep. 6, 1908, Colorado County, Texas, USA
Burial: Oakes Family Cemetery, Rock Island, Colorado County, Texas, USA
Find A Grave Memorial# 93412715

We can see from the known birth date that there is a discrepancy with the birth date on the gravestone.  However, the statement in the newspaper article does seem to suggest that Frank E. Little was residing in Rock Island, Texas from May to September of 1908 with his wife, Elizabeth Nightingale whom he had married on 24 November 1904 in Yoncalla, Douglas County, Oregon. In 1908 Frank and Elizabeth had one living child, Alfred Frank Little who was born 23 March 1907 in Yoncalla, Douglas, Oregon.

According to the family tree of Judy Little Martin onAncestry.com: after the death of Frank E. Little in 1910 Elizabeth Nightingale Little is a widow living with her brother, Jacob Nightingale, and her son, Alfred Frank Little, on 25.24 acres owned by Jacob in Dallas, Polk County, Oregon and they are barely getting by.

RESEARCH PLAN

Given the known facts, what records might contain more information about the life and death of Frank E. Little in Rock Island, Colorado County, Texas in 1908?  The following is a list of records that should be searched:

·         When did Colorado County start collecting death records and sending them to the State of Texas?  Did they collect records locally prior to complying with the requirement for State death registration?  If so where are those records now?
·         A probate record might exist in Colorado County.
·         Colorado County may have voter registration records in their courthouse or in published sources.
·         Land records in Colorado County may list Frank Little in their grantee index.
·         The Family Search Wiki and Family Search Catalog should be reviewed for Colorado County to see what source materials are available. 
·         Colorado County Tax Lists may not include Frank Little due to his brief time there.  However if they do list a Frank Little in 1907 and prior, this may provide evidence discounting the match with Frank Little born in Illinois.
·         The Handbook of Texas Online and county histories should be reviewed for historical context on Rock Island, Colorado County, Texas
·         Historical context on the Oakes Family Cemetery in Rock Island should be obtained. 
o   Who are the people buried there?
o   What do they share in common? 
o   Was there a relationship between Frank Little and the people in the Rock Island community?
·         The catalog of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research should be reviewed to see if any compiled source material is available on deaths in Colorado County.
·         Chronicling America will give us a list of newspapers available for Colorado County, Texas.
·         The Colorado County Library and other repositories may have newspapers on microfilm.
·         A complete review of the Colorado County library holdings should be performed to see what other sources might be available there. 
·         A complete review of the Colorado County courthouse holdings should be performed to see what other sources might be available there. 
·         The Galveston Daily News often included news from around the state.
·         Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com may have news of the death of Frank Little in Texas.
·         The Portal to Texas History should be reviewed for news of Frank Little in Texas newspapers.


RESULTS

All of the “known facts” described and the new facts discovered must be tested against the genealogical proof standard adhered to by professional genealogists.  There are five elements to the Genealogical Proof Standard:

1.      Reasonably exhaustive research has been conducted.
2.      Each statement of fact has a complete and accurate source citation.
3.      The evidence is reliable and has been skillfully correlated and interpreted.
4.      Any contradictory evidence has been resolved.
5.      The conclusion has been soundly reasoned and coherently written.

Any proof statement is subject to re-evaluation when new evidence arises.

The results that follow have been prepared within the guidelines of the genealogical proof standard.

1.      When did Colorado County start collecting death records and sending them to the State of Texas?  Did they collect records locally prior to complying with the requirement for State death registration?  If so where are those records now?

The Texas Death Certificate database at Ancestry.com was browsed to determine the earliest records for Colorado County.  The earliest year available for Colorado County death certificates is 1902.  Then there is a gap in the records until 1909.

FamilySearch.org also has an online collection of Texas death certificates that can be browsed.  The first death certificate in their collection was at the following citation:

"Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-25178-81231-47?cc=1983324 : 22 July 2014), Death certificates > 1903-1909 > Vol 026-034, certificates 011385-015400, Carson-DeWitt counties > image 2133 of 3307; State Registrar Office, Austin.

The index of this image is as follows: Named of Deceased: Anna Dirba; Death Date: 11 Dec 1909; Death Place: Ellinger, Colorado, Texas

This confirms that the first death record submitted to the State of Texas from Colorado County was for a death that occurred on 11 Dec 1909. Browsing continued through the rest of the records for Colorado County from 1909.  The last image for Colorado County was Image #2138 so there were only six death records submitted for the entire year of 1909 in Colorado County.

The Family Search Catalog shows microfilms of an index and death records for Colorado County Texas which includes 1908 as shown in the following image:
Notes on the content of the film state the following:  Microfilm of originals in the Colorado County courthouse in Columbus, Texas. Includes general index with some volumes individually indexed.
However, even though the records show that they began in 1903 does not mean that they are inclusive of deaths in 1908.  These two microfilms could be ordered from FamilySearch.org at an estimated cost of $15.  The time to search the microfilm would be billed at $25 per hour.  These microfilm or the original records might be available for inspection in Columbus at the courthouse or the library.

Another option is to request a record from the County Clerk:

County Clerk
Kimberly Menke
Colorado County Courthouse Annex
318 Spring Street, Room 103
Columbus, Texas 78934
Phone: 979-732-2155
Fax: 979-732-8852

A certified copy of a death certificate requires payment of a fee of $21.  The application must be completed with a copy of photo identification and a notarized Proof of Identification Form.  The application is available here:

Applications without the sworn statement and photo ID will not be processed.

However, I always recommend that you call a county office before requesting a record search and paying a fee.  In this case a call to the County Clerk revealed that I would need to come in to search for the record myself as they do not do searches for the death records from 1908.

2.      A probate record might exist in Colorado County.

The FamilySearch Wiki shows the following online sources for probate records which are hyperlinked to searchable or browse-able databases:

Online Probate Records
·         1800 – 1990 Texas Probate Records 1800-1990 at FamilySearch — The procedure is to browse through each group of records. Probate Minutes for 1907-1910 volume Q was one of the scanned books available.  There are 324 images in this record set.  The front and the back of the volume were searched for an internal index but none was found.  Given a death date of September 6, 1908, probate would have to be filed after that date.
  • Image 125 of 324 shows items filed on August 22, 1908 and September 29, 1908.
  • Image 128 of 324 shows that on the 12th day of October 1908 the County Court held a regular term.
  • The search was suspended at page 135 of 324.  This search can be resumed in a future phase of research.
·         1800 – 2000 Texas Wills and Probate Records 1800-2000 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
The only thing close in this database was not a good match:
F E Little  in the Texas, Wills and Probate Records, 1833-1974
Name:           F E Little
Probate Date:            16 Sep 1879
Probate Place:          Ellis, Texas, USA
Inferred Death Year:   Abt 1879
Inferred Death Place: Texas, USA
Case Number:           347
Item Description:       Probate Records, Vol B, 1874-1890
Source Citation
Probate records, 1850-1941; probate docket index, 1850-1988; Author: Texas, County Court (Ellis County); Probate Place: Ellis, Texas
Source Information
Ancestry.com. Texas, Wills and Probate Records, 1833-1974 [database on-line].
·         Search Tax, Criminal, Land and Wills Records Ancestry.com (subscription)
Nothing significant was found in this database.  It seemed mostly to refer back to other databases already searched.

3.      Colorado County may have voter registration records in their courthouse or in published sources.

These records were not available on the library website or the USGenWeb site. This would require a courthouse site visit to Columbus, Texas to pursue this further. This would have to be completed in a future phase of research.

4.      Land records in Colorado County may list Frank Little in their grantee index.

This would require a courthouse site visit to Columbus, Texas and would have to be completed in a future phase of research.  Also see the note below concerning microfilm at the Clayton Library.

5.      The Family Search Wiki and Family Search Catalog should be reviewed for Colorado County to see what source materials are available. 

FamilySearch.org has a Wiki page for Colorado County, Texas at the following link:

6.      Colorado County Tax Lists may not include Frank Little due to his brief time there.  However if they do list a Frank Little in 1907 and prior, this may provide evidence discounting the match with Frank Little born in Illinois.

A listing of Colorado County Tax Records is available at the following link:
The latest tax record available online is 1895.
The Family History Library catalog shows microfilm available but the latest microfilm available is for the year 1901.

7.      The Handbook of Texas Online and county histories should be reviewed for historical context on Rock Island, Colorado County, Texas

“ROCK ISLAND, TEXAS (Colorado County). Rock Island, on U.S. Highway 90A fifteen miles west of Eagle Lake and twelve miles southwest of Columbus in southwest Colorado County, was settled in 1896 as part of a land promotion scheme on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. Among the first residents of the community were Abram Vorhees, Charles Petersen, and C. S. Penfield. The town's original name was Crasco, after nearby Crasco Creek, but in 1897 the citizens successfully petitioned the post office department to change the name. Charles Petersen, a large landowner, renamed the town for the Rock Island Railroad Company. In August 1897 Petersen was appointed the first postmaster of Rock Island, and the old Crasco post office was closed. From an original core of thirty-nine farming families, the population of Rock Island had grown to 367 by 1904 and had reached an all-time high of 500 by 1925. By 1986 the population had dropped to 160, and only eight businesses remained. In 2000 the population remained at 160, and there were five businesses in the community.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Colorado County Sesquicentennial Commemorative Book (La Grange, Texas: Hengst Printing, 1986). F. B. Largent, Jr.[1]

8.      Historical context on the Oakes Family Cemetery in Rock Island should be obtained. 
o   Oakes Cemetery
o   Origin of name: after the Oakes family
o   Location: on the east side of FM 106, about 7.5 miles, following the meanders, north of its intersection with Highway 90A
o   Map: 2996-311, Rock Island Quadrangle (not marked)
o   Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates: 14, 731999E, 3277307N (NAD83/WGS84)
o   Earliest known year of death: 1869
o   Earliest known year of birth: 1820
o   Most recent known burial: 1911
o   Racial mix: all white
o   Comments: The cemetery contains one footstone with the initials "L. S. T." for which no headstone could be found. There are informal markers for at least five more graves.
o   Surveyors: Vernon Rabel, Juanita Rabel, Regena Williamson, Norma Hooper, and Bill Stein
o   Date surveyed: May 10, 2006
o   Number of known burials to date: 9
9.      Who are the people buried there?
The following names are the complete list of the nine burials at Oakes Family Cemetery from FindaGrave.com
·         LAST NAME, FIRST NAME MEMORIAL #
VITAL DATES
BIOGRAPHY/OBITUARY

·         Chester, Robert Henry 93412670
b. Oct. 15, 1878 d. Sep. 5, 1880         

·         Chester, William Fred 93412678
b. Oct. 1, 1882 d. Jan. 4, 1884           

·         Johnson, Dandridge 93412688
b. Oct. 6, 1829 d. Jun. 27, 1893         

·         Little, Frank 93412715
b. May 2, 1856 d. Sep. 6, 1908          

·         Oakes, John C. 93412724
b. Oct. 31, 1870 d. Sep. 11, 1889

·         Oakes, John Calvin 83019222
b. Sep. 9, 1828 d. May 3, 1911
Oakes, John Calvin
J. C. Oakes, a pioneer of the early days in Texas, died at his home north of Rock Island last Wednesday night at 9:20 o'clock. Mr. Oakes was 83 years old the 8 day of last September and had lived continuously at his home since 1852. He was married to Miss Melissa Cooper at Columbus and lived in the town of Columbus for two or three years, thence moving to his country home. His wife preceded him to the better world years ago. He was the father of 10 children of whom 8 are living. Mrs. D. A. Calb, of Sealy, Mrs. Ella Peters of Wharton, Mrs. Janie Besch of El Campo, Mrs. Ida Bennett of San Antonio, Mrs. Callie Cooper and Mrs. Bettie Green, who reside north of Rock Island and Messrs. D. E. Oakes of this place and W. I. Oakes of Near Rock Island. Mr. Oakes was born in West Virginia, but came to Texas in an early day and for a long time hauled freight between Houston and San Antonio. His remains were laid to rest in the family cemetery on the Crasco last Thursday, by the side of his wife, a large concourse of sorrowing relatives and friends being in attendance. Extreme old age was the cause of his death. Mr. Oakes was a fine old gentleman who had the friendship of everybody and will be missed. Thus the old land marks are passing away. We extend our sympathy to the bereaved ones.

Colorado Citizen, May 12, 1911        

It is notable that John Calvin Oakes was the last date for marked graves in Oakes Family Cemetery.

The following images show the land owned by John C. Oakes in 1895 starting on line 19.


Line 19 shows that J.C. Oakes was an Original Grantee in Colorado County in Abstract No. 422 on the J.C. Oakes Survey for 160 acres valued at $800 in 1895.   His total land area assessed in 1895 was 815 acres.[2]

Cemetery Listing continued:
·         Oakes, Malissa A. 93360828
b. Sep. 23, 1865 d. Oct. 5, 1880         

·         Oakes, Malissa Adaline Cooper 93360740
b. Aug. 26, 1839 d. Dec. 1, 1891
Wife of John Calvin Oakes; see obituary above        

·         Townsend, R. L. "Tuppie" 93412792
b. Jun. 24, 1863 d. Sep. 16, 1869


10.  What do they share in common? 

The people buried in this cemetery appear to all be related to John Calvin Oakes 1828-1911.

11.  Was there a relationship between Frank Little and the people in the Rock Island community?

J.C. Oakes may have employed Frank Little to operate his ranch. In 1908, Mr. J.C. Oakes would have been 80 years old and may have needed someone to operate his ranch.  However, he did have eight children alive in 1908. Three of the children of John Calvin Oakes resided near Rock Island.  One approach to answering the question of relationship between Frank Little and the Oakes family would be to track down the descendants of Mr. J.C. Oakes.  Another approach would be to track down the current property owner for the Oakes ranch.  The following map shows the location of abstract #422 on the J.C. Oakes survey.

Figure 1- Colorado County Appraisal District Map showing an orange shaded parcel.  This is the 160 acre parcel for Abstract 422 in the J.C.Oakes Survey.  Note that the parcel is located between the county seat, Columbus and the town of Rock Island
The current property address is on County Road 106, Columbus, Texas.

12.  The catalog of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research should be reviewed to see if any compiled source material is available on deaths in Colorado County.

Since all of these sources are reference material a trip would need to be scheduled to the Clayton Library to inspect them in person.

·         Title:  Myrtle Cemetery : Rock Island, Texas 1902-2004 / Myrtle Cemetery Association.; Author(s):  Myrtle Cemetery Association (Rock Island, Colorado County, Tex.)
Pub. Date:  Myrtle Cemetery Association, 2006.
Call Number: M998 COLOR TEX
This source might have more historical background about the Rock Island community.

·         Title:  Colorado County Index to deeds 1836-1928 [microform].
Author(s):  Texas State Library. Archives Division.
Pub. Date:  State Archives Division, Texas State Library, [1929?- distributed 2004]
Texas State Library. Archives Division.
Call Number    FILM REEL 969501 through FILM REEL 969509
This source might show land purchased by Frank E. Little.


·         Title:  Colorado County index to probate records and probate minutes A-Z 1835-1975 [microform]
Author(s):  Texas State Library. Archives Division.
Pub. Date:  State Archives Division, Texas State Library, [1975- distributed 2004]
Call Number: FILM REEL 973560
This source may help to locate a probate record as discussed in Item #2.  

13.  Chronicling America will give us a list of newspapers available for Colorado County, Texas.
The following list is from the FamilySearch.org Wiki:
·         1857-1980 Colorado Citizen
·         1885-1888 Weimar Gimlet
·         1887 Weimar Daily Informer
·         1887-1888 Weimar Daily Gimlet
·         1889-1980 Weimar Mercury
·         1898 Daily Tribune
·         1902-1915 Mercury
Also see #14 below.

The Chronicling America site gives a more complete list[3]:
The search for titles in Colorado County, Texas returned 17 results:

1. Eagle Lake advertiser. (Eagle Lake, Tex.) 1893-19??
2. The Colorado citizen. (Columbus, Tex) 1857-1927
3. Weimar gimlet. (Weimar, Tex.) 1885-1888
4. Headlight. (Eagle Lake, Tex.) 1894-18??
5. Eagle Lake headlight. (Eagle Lake, Tex.) 1903-current
6. The Colorado County citizen. (Columbus, Tex.) 1927-current
7. The Columbus weekly times. (Columbus, Tex.) 1867-18??
8. The Banner press newspaper. (Columbus, Tex.) 19??-current
9. The Weimar mercury. (Weimar, Tex.) 1886-current
10. The Columbus times. (Columbus, Tex.) 1867-????
11. Columbus banner press. (Columbus, Tex.) 1985-current
12. Garwood express. (Garwood, Tex.) 19??-????
13. The Eagle Lake canoe. (Eagle Lake, Tex.) 18??-????
14. The daily tribune. (Weimar, Tex.) 1898-????
15. The Eagle Lake gimlet. (Eagle Lake, Tex.) 18??-????
16. The Weimar daily informer. (Weimar, Tex.) 18??-????
17. The Weimar daily gimlet. (Weimar, Tex.) 1887-????

14.  The Colorado County Library and other repositories may have newspapers on microfilm.

o   ID1: 65; Drawer 2, Partition 1; Sequence: 6; Category: Newspaper; Microfilm Box Label: Colorado Citizen 1858, 1908, 1914
o   ID1: 83; Drawer 2, Partition 2; Sequence: 2; Category: Newspaper; Microfilm Box Label: Colorado Citizen 1908 – 1911
o   ID1: 145; Drawer 3, Partition 3; Sequence: 10; Category: Newspaper; Microfilm Box Label: Eagle Lake Headlight 1907 - 1910
o   ID1: 215; Drawer 4, Partition 4; Sequence: 9; Category: Newspaper; Microfilm Box Label:  Weimar Mercury - Vol 19 thru Vol 21 Dec 8, 1906 to Nov 26, 1909 box no. 7
o   ID1: 349; Drawer 7, Partition 4; Sequence: 6; Category: Newspaper; Microfilm Box Label: La Grange Journal 1907 – 1910

15.  A complete review of the Colorado County library holdings was performed to see what other sources might be available there. 

The Nesbitt Memorial Library in Columbus, Texas has considerable resources available on their website.  Several of these sources have been mentioned in relation to other questions in this report.  The following additional online resources at the Colorado County Library were searched:

Inquest Minute Book, 1902-1922
J. K. Davidson, Justice of the Peace
Precinct No. 8, Colorado County, Texas
synopsized by Ernest Mae Seaholm

The categories for information in the book, although never filled in completely, are the following: name of deceased, description of deceased, date of inquest, place the inquest was held, date of death if known, place where died or where body was found, nature of information given by JP, by whom information was given, names of suspected person(s), whether person was principal or accomplice, residence of suspected person(s), date of arrest of suspected person(s), in what jail confined, date of bail bond, amount of bail bond, where person on bail bond can be found, names of sureties on bail bond, residence of sureties, and the finding of the justice.

Results: No match for keyword “Little”


The following lists of death of persons named Little was found at the above URL:

Data ID
LAST NAME
FIRST NAME
B
B Mmm DD
B YEAR
D
D Mmm DD
D YEAR
CEMETERY
NOTES
13537
Little
Ada P.
b.
Jun 6
1887
d.
Oct 27
1970
Weimar Masonic
Née Wright
13538
Little
Annie
b.
Jan 20
1911
d.
Aug 1
1946
Weimar Masonic
Daughter of John Michalik...married Gaither O. Little, May 6, 1945
13539
Little
Edna Felton
b.
Oct 5
1941
d.
Oct 6
1941
Weimar Masonic
Daughter of Robert Elton and Edna Mae (Maples) Little
13540
Little
Everett B.
b.
Mar 5
1885
d.
Dec 11
1915
Weimar Masonic
Son of Joseph McCreary and Mary Jane (Purvis) Little
13541
Little
Frank
b.
May 2
1856
d.
Sep 6
1908
Oakes
13542
Little
Gaither O.
b.
Aug 30
1907
d.
Jan 8
1985
Weimar Masonic
Son of Robert and Georgie (Culpepper) Little
13543
Little
George Huff
b.
Dec 1
1840
d.
Jul 14
1915
Columbus Odd Fellows
Confederate veteran
13544
Little
George Huff Jr.
b.
Aug 24
1875
d.
Oct 13
1947
Columbus Odd Fellows
Son of George Huff and Mary E. (Jarmon) Little
13545
Little
Georgia Ann
b.
Sep 27
1874
d.
Nov 29
1957
Weimar Masonic
Née Culpepper, married Robert Little, Oct 17, 1894
13546
Little
Helen Agnes
b.
Oct 20
1886
d.
May 11
1972
Columbus Odd Fellows
Née Hubener
13547
Little
Henry Lloyd
b.
Sep 6
1944
d.
Jun 8
1964
Weimar Masonic
Son of Robert Elton and Edna Mae (Maples) Little
13548
Little
James M.
b.
Mar 4
1904
d.
Nov 15
1999
Columbus Odd Fellows
Son of Robert and Georgia (Culpepper) Little
13549
Little
Joseph McCreary
b.
Oct 17
1842
d.
Nov 20
1917
Weimar Masonic
13550
Little
Joseph O.
b.
Sep 17
1879
d.
Oct 12
1941
Weimar Masonic
Son of Joseph McCreary and Mary Jane (Purvis) Little
13551
Little
Katherine Irene
b.
Feb 3
1894
d.
May 15
1945
Eagle Lake Masonic
Née Turner, married Sam H. Little
13552
Little
Maggie A.
b.
Aug 24
1842
d.
Oct 3
1908
Eagle Lake Masonic
Née Land, married Walter W. Little
13553
Little
Mary E.
b.
Jul 21
1846
d.
Dec 19
1901
Columbus Odd Fellows
Daughter of R. B. Jarmon...married George Huff Little, Aug 17, 1864
13554
Little
Mary Jane
b.
Mar 22
1846
d.
Nov 8
1932
Weimar Masonic
Née Purvis, married Joseph McCreary Little, Jan 16, 1868
13555
Little
Mata
b.
Jun 6
1905
d.
Apr
1988
Columbus Odd Fellows
Daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Grunewald...married James M. Little, Dec 1, 1925
13556
Little
Nannye C.
b.
Dec 13
1886
d.
Apr 24
1978
Weimar Masonic
Née Key, married Joseph O. Little, Dec 7, 1907
13557
Little
Robert
b.
Mar 20
1870
d.
Nov 2
1931
Weimar Masonic
Son of Joseph McCreary and Mary Jane (Purvis) Little
13558
Little
Robert Elton
b.
Sep 19
1914
d.
Jan 25
1999
Weimar Masonic
13559
Little
Robert J.
b.
Jul 22
1877
d.
Feb 15
1903
Columbus Odd Fellows
Son of George Huff and Mary E. (Jarmon) Little
13560
Little
Sam H.
b.
Jul 20
1885
d.
Dec 10
1955
Eagle Lake Masonic
13561
Little
Seth M.
b.
Oct 11
1885
d.
Feb 15
1927
Columbus Odd Fellows
Son of George Huff and Mary E. (Jarmon) Little
13562
Little
Shelly S.
b.
Nov 24
1883
d.
Oct 19
1917
Columbus Odd Fellows
13563
Little
Stasie
b.
May 17
1913
d.
Mar 3
1997
Weimar Odd Fellows
Daughter of John and Veronyka (Protkova) Hnatek...married Gaither O. Little, Jul 10, 1948
13564
Little
Vera Lurline
b.
Nov 23
1899
d.
Apr 3
1993
Weimar Masonic
Daughter of Robert and Georgia Ann (Culpepper) Little
13565
Little
Virgie Bell
b.
Apr 4
1894
d.
Jul 3
1982
Weimar Masonic
13566
Little
Walter W.
b.
Oct 31
1828
d.
Mar 3
1912
Eagle Lake Masonic
Son of William Little...veteran of Mexican War and Confederate veteran
13567
Little
Will R.
b.
Jan 24
1867
d.
Apr 29
1893
Columbus Odd Fellows
Son of George Huff and Mary E. (Jarmon) Little

Frank Little was the only person of that surname to be buried in the Oakes Cemetery.  It is not known whether any of these persons with the surname Little are related to Frank E. Little.

The above URL shows all of the obituaries with the surname “Little.”  The page was searched for the keywords “Frank,” “Illinois” and “Oregon” with no results. There was a link to the USGenWeb page for Colorado county at the bottom of the obituary page.  The GenWeb page includes a search engine at:


The following searches were run: "f.e. Little" "frank e. Little" "frank Little" "john oakes" "john c. oakes" "j.c. oakes"

Most of the references were back to the cemetery and the obituary for John C. Oakes.  There was one article which showed John C. Oakes as a confederate veteran.

16.  A complete review of the Colorado County courthouse holdings should be performed to see what other sources might be available there.

This would require a courthouse site visit to Columbus, Texas and would have to be completed in a future phase of research.

17.  The Galveston Daily News often included news from around the state.
The Galveston Daily News is searchable on Ancestry.com but as shown in the following image, 1908 appears to be missing from their collection:


18.  Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com may have news of the death of Frank Little in Texas.

Search of “Frank E. Little revealed no articles in Texas in Newspapers.com.  There was a clipping of the wedding of Frank E. Little and Elizabeth Nightingale in Oregon but that was something that Kathy Baxter already found.


Genealogy Bank had a total of 578 matches in their newspaper collection. Narrowing the date range to the 1907-1925 period resulted in 77 matches.

The first match was the article on the right with the following citation:
Frank E. Little Weds Miss Edna C. Smith; Date: Thursday, August 3, 1911   Paper: Colorado Springs Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado)   Issue: 11081   Page: 5

This match would require further searching on Frank E. Little of Colorado Springs to confirm the identity.

Figure 2- Frank E. Little Weds Miss Edna C. Smith 1911 Colorado Springs, Colorado
The rest of the articles were matches on “Frank E.” only.




A search was run at Ancestry.com for Frank E. Little in Colorado.  The gentleman from Colorado Springs was located and it seemed intriguing at first because he was born in Illinois.  However, he was born about 1882 and our research subject was born in 1855.  He was residing in Colorado Springs as early as 1904 and working as a clerk.  He lived at least until after the 1940 census.


19.  The Portal to Texas History should be reviewed for news of Frank E. Little in Texas newspapers.

The URL for the Portal to Texas History is https://texashistory.unt.edu

·         There were no results in the Portal to Texas History for “Frank E. Little.”
·         There were 44 results for “f.e. little.” The search was narrowed to 11 in the decade 1900-1909 and two for the year 1908:

o   Result #1: This article was a local mention in Jacksboro, Texas: “Mrs. F.E. Little of Carlsbad, New Mexico, accompanied by her little son, F.E. is here visiting her mother, Mrs. J.M. Eaves.”[4]  This family shows up in the 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 census in Carlsbad. In 1920 the household members were listed as follows:
Household Members:
Name                                   Age
Franklin Eugene Little         45
Beulah Little                                    39
Franklin E Little                   13
Nannie I Little                                  10
Edwin J Little                                   9
o   Result #2: The article was about a bowling event in Cincinnati, Ohio and referred to F. E. Little of Columbus, Ohio in the list of best scores. [5]
o   1909 found one result again related to the Carlsbad and Jacksboro families
o   More time could be spent reviewing all of the F.E. Little search results

·         There were eight results for a search of “Frank Little.”  All of them seemed to relate to cattle transactions of Mr. Frank Little of Ramona, Oklahoma in the East St. Louis stockyards.


SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

The most interesting finds so far are in relation to the persons buried in the Oakes Family Cemetery.  Since there are so few graves and they are mostly related to John Calvin Oakes, it would appear that there was a relation between Mr. Oakes and Frank E. Little.  The property of J.C. Oakes was located on a modern map from the Colorado County Appraisal District.  The name of the property owner was identified.

Unfortunately, there were several gaps in the records for the critical year of 1908 including death records and newspapers.

Recommendations
Several actions are recommended for future research.  Most would require travel to Columbus, the county seat of Colorado County.  The budget for the next phase of research needs to be discussed and agreed upon.
·         Research the descendants of all of the persons buried in the Oakes Family Cemetery
·         Obtain contact information for living descendants and the property owner
·         Contact descendants to obtain more information about the persons buried in the cemetery
·         Contact the current property owners for permission to visit the cemetery and to find out if they have further information about the cemetery and the descendants
·         Visit the Nesbitt Memorial Library to view microfilm, books and archival resources
Visit the Colorado County Courthouse to view original records



[1] Handbook of Texas Online, F. B. Largent, Jr., "Rock Island, TX (Colorado County)," accessed September 11, 2016; http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlr31. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
[2] "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-13680-62010-88?cc=1827575 : 22 May 2014), Colorado county > 1895 > image 189 of 321; State Archives, Austin.
[3] http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/
[4] The Jacksboro News (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 16, 1908
[5] El Paso Daily Times (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 28, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 18, 1908 Page: 2 of 8

This case study is still ongoing.  I am planning a research trip to Colorado County to see what else I can find.   My clients are willing to share their information with anyone who is interested in this case.  Contact me to get to the most recent research reports including the missing images on the case of Frank E. Little.